Evening Symphony; The Story of the Blue Wall

The lovely PK is having a Paint Party so I thought it'd be a great time to share our first painting experience.



I'm 99% sure the color is Behr's Evening Symphony. We painted in August 2008 and since having a baby my memory isn't what it used to be.

Anyway, this is the room before. We didn't like the color the previous homeowners picked. It doesn't look too terrible in this picture but at certain times of day it looked like dirty, muddy water.



The brown was pretty dark and I was worried it would be difficult to cover up. Plus, it's our first house so we thought a blueberry pie candle color would be awesome. Behr had an inspiration booklet and this was one of the colors they featured.



I'd read in a magazine (likely Better Homes and Gardens) several years ago that to add subtle stripes to the room, you can paint with the same color but with different finishes (ie glossy and matte). I thought horizontal stripes would make the room seem a bit wider. (a little more info about the skirt here)




The paint experts at Home Depot recommend using Glidden Gripper Grey primer. It worked well but has a strong odor. The Behr paint also smells strongly (or I have a super sensitive nose). I measured the stripes with a level and a lot of little pencil marks. To be truthful, it took me several hours. I didn't like it during the process but I had the time and opportunity. The week we were painting I was second and third guessing my decision but I've never regretted it since. Here's a shot of the taped wall:



We did two coats of each paint finish (btw we have since discovered Frog Tape, which doesn't remove as much paint when you remove it- totally worth the extra cost):



I love this room!



I love how the color shifts and changes through the day.



I also love being able to lighten it up with white accents, especially during the long winters here. (see what we had before the armoire here)



Check out the paint party and awesome paint series here: